Monday, March 23, 2015

Getting to the Bottom of Zionism

Back
in the 1880s, when Zionism started, it was nothing more than an idea to create
a homeland for beleaguered Jews.In that
way, it paralleled efforts through the years by Armenians, Serbs, Slovaks and
other ethnic groups to find a refuge from the attacks of their neighbors.The Czech Republic and Slovakia grew out of
such a commitment.The breakup of
Yugoslavia led to the rebirth of several ethnic countries, including Croatia,
Slovenia and Serbia.

In
the same way, Zionism eventually led to the creation of Israel.

None
of the other nationalistic efforts, however, have resulted in the kinds of verbal
abuse heaped on Zionism, which is accused of fomenting genocide against
Palestinians to trying to control the world.I read one website which lambasted Zionists for working with
anti-Semites in Nazi Germany, as if both sides didn’t have the same objective:
to get Jews out of Europe.

Such
claims often arise from widespread anti-Semitism, something that Croatians,
Serbians etc. have never had to deal with.Jews, who are outside the Christian culture, have been easy targets of
hate, abuse and outright murder since Christianity became the sole religion of
the dying Roman Empire in the late 4th century.

Holocaust victims

A
Stanford University study of anti-Semitism placed the blame squarely on
churches for using that hatred to bolster their own positions.Even today, after the Holocaust that killed
around 6 million Jews during World War II, anti-Semitism remains alive and
well, especially in Europe, the Arab world and this country.

A 2014 study by the Anti-Defamation League
found that about one in four adults worldwide are “deeply infected with
anti-Semitic attitudes.”The survey of
53,100 adults in 102 countries revealed that almost half had never heard of the
Holocaust.Of those who had, most don’t
believe that the accounts are accurate.

I
have Arab friends who say they are not anti-Semitic, but dislike Israel.Unfortunately, their countries often won’t admit
anyone whose passport identifies the holder as Jewish.That’s anti-Semitism, not anti-Israeli.

Herzl

It’s
also why Zionism started in the first place.

In
the 1890s, Jewish Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl saw evidence of
widespread anti-Semitism in France and in Austria.Although having only limited involvement with
Judaism, Herzl wrote a play and several papers in which he said anti-Semitism “could
not be defeated or cured.”To him, then,
the only solution was the creation of a Jewish homeland where Jews would not
suffer from such hatred.

His
writings attracted widespread attention in Jewish communities.Naturally, early proponents focused on creating
a homeland in what was then called Southern Syria, but, in the Bible, had been “given”
to the descendants of Abraham.“On the
same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I
have given this land...’” (Genesis 15:18)

There
are actually several similar promises in the Bible: they don’t agree on
boundaries or even how the Jews are supposed to assume control of the
land.Nevertheless, Jews have claimed
the land even when not living there.

Homeland
proponents chose the name Zionism, which had been coined two decades earlier
and was derived from the old name of the mountain in Jerusalem, Mt. Zion. Ironically,
Herzl was ousted from the World Zionist Organization for accepting Uganda after
England proposed that country as a substitute for Israel.

Jewish
financiers like Rothschild and Belmont helped fund the purchase of land in
Israel and to create collective farms there. Still, by the 1920s, there were only five such
kibbutzim and a few thousands Jews.That number increased, of course, as anti-Semitism took hold in Europe.

After
World War II, however, shocked by the mass murder of Jews, the United Nations
agreed with the Zionistic aims and voted to create Israel as a Jewish homeland while
creating a separate Palestinian homeland for Arab residents.

Churchill

English statesman Winston Churchill
called the creation of Israel “an event in world history to be viewed in the
perspective not of a generation or a century, but in the perspective of a
thousand, two thousand or even three thousand years.”He added that it is “one of the most hopeful
and encouraging adventures of the 20th century.”

Not everyone agreed with him then or
now.

Today, Zionism is demonized.It is still linked to the fraudulent Protocol
of the Elders of Zion, which supposedly outlined a policy of Jewish world domination
even though it was based on French farcical essays that predated the term Zionism
by 30 years and had nothing to with Zionism, Judaism or Israel.It was revised in the early 1900s to poke fun
at Herzl and then adopted by American anti-Semites like Henry Ford (who later
apologized) and German leader Adolf Hitler (who insisted schoolchildren study
it).

In addition, Zionism is accused today of such
absurdities as fostering an apartheid policy in Israel, of helping fund the
Arab terrorists of 9/11 and so on.

Jews against Zionism

Zionism remains nothing more than a
philosophy behind the successful creation of a Jewish homeland.That’s it.Not all Jews are Zionists.In
fact, many Jews continue to oppose imposition of a Jewish state on the land,
which has often been to the detriment of non-Jewish residents.

Not all Zionists are Jews.Many ultra-conservative Christians believe
that Jews must return to Israel to rebuild the Temple to hasten Jesus’ return
and the end of the world.Evangelicals
actually have been some of the strongest supporters of Zionism.

Nevertheless, Zionism continues to
be the focus of intense hatred, which only supports the Zionistic belief that
Jews need a homeland to be safe from such misguided abuse.

Long-time
religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious
history.He also speaks at various
religious organizations throughout Florida.You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols;and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion.His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.He can also be followed on Twitter.

You
can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at
http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

About Me

During his career, Bill has been a newspaper reporter, magazine writer/editor, advertising copywriter and writer/editor of NASCAR programs, among other jobs. He has won three international awards for stories and programs while working for International Speedway Corp. and was named 2000 Florida Feature Writer of the Year.
He has published four books to date and his writing has appeared in hundreds of local, regional, state and national publications.